Warning to over-40s: it’s time to start cutting down on drink

Hmm, something tells me that simply changing the advisory weekly limits for alcohol intake will not make a blind bit of a difference. How many over forties getting bladdered in the boozer right now know what the current recommendations are (or more to the point give a flying **** about them)?

Warning to over-40s: it’s time to start cutting down on drinkDAMIEN HENDERSONJune 19 2006

PEOPLE aged between 40 to 60 are drinking more than previous generations and should be encouraged to cut down, according to a report.
An expert group commissioned by NHS Scotland found that baby boomers were drinking in excess of safe limits, despite the body's ability to cope with alcohol decreasing with age.
The group has called for the recommended limits for safe drinking to be reduced for older people in order to remedy the situation.
The group also sounded a warning over the reduced price of drink, suggesting that people are drinking more because alcohol is too cheap.
The experts who carried out the study found that increasing numbers of older men and women are suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.
The experts want the current advice of a weekly intake for men of 21 units and 14 for women to be brought down on a sliding scale with age.
Dr Laurence Gruer, director of public health sciences at NHS Health Scotland, told the BBC yesterday there was a suggestion that advice on drinking should be amended for different age groups.
He said: "As people get older, the ability of their bodies to handle the alcohol goes down. These experts are suggesting we need to lower the current recommended alcohol limits specifically for older people."
The report also contained a recommendation that consideration should be given to putting up prices to make drinking less attractive.
Paul Waterson, of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, argued there was a twin problem of too many licensed premises and cut price promotions. "There are far too many licenses at present – that factor is responsible for a lot of the irresponsible drinks promotions that we have," he told BBC Scotland.
The Scottish Executive pushed legislation through Holyrood last November intended to cut binge drinking. The measures begin to take effect in February 2008, and will take 18 months to introduce fully.
However, a spokesman yesterday denied suggestions, made in a Sunday newspaper, that it was considering banning alcohol for people aged under 21. He said there was "absolutely no truth" in the story.